Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris criticized Republican rival Donald Trump on Saturday, accusing him of showing disrespect during a visit to a U.S. military cemetery. Harris condemned Trump’s actions at Arlington National Cemetery, which were meant to bolster his campaign ahead of the November 5 election, but instead sparked controversy.
“Let me be clear: the former president disrespected sacred ground, all for a political stunt,” Harris said about Trump’s visit on Monday, where he was seen posing for photos with families of U.S. service members killed in Afghanistan, against cemetery rules.
In one widely circulated photo, Trump is pictured with a fallen Marine’s family, standing among headstones with a broad smile and giving a thumbs-up.
Harris emphasized on social media platform X that, “If there is one thing on which we as Americans can all agree, it is that our veterans, military families, and service members deserve our utmost respect and gratitude.”
On Thursday, the U.S. Army issued an unusual statement revealing that a cemetery employee had been “abruptly pushed aside” by Trump’s team after they were asked to stop filming in a restricted area reserved for recent war casualties, where political photography is prohibited. Trump’s campaign responded by criticizing the employee, calling her a “despicable individual” and suggesting she was having a mental health crisis. However, the military stated that the staff member “acted with professionalism” and regretted the incident.
Throughout his campaign, Trump has criticized the Biden-Harris administration’s handling of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, claiming he would have managed it better. His cemetery visit included meetings with families of some of the 13 service members killed in a 2021 bombing in Kabul during the chaotic final days of the U.S. exit.
Trump’s relationship with the military has often been contentious. Despite publicly praising the armed forces, he was reported to have privately mocked war dead and avoided being seen with military amputees during his presidency, according to his former chief of staff.
Harris’s strong remarks on Saturday highlighted her intent to directly challenge Trump in what is shaping up to be a fierce election battle. Trump has frequently ridiculed Harris’s name, intelligence, appearance, and racial identity, while Harris’s campaign has countered by calling Trump “weird,” an aspiring dictator, and “out of his mind.”
Harris also faced harsh criticism over the cemetery incident from Trump’s running mate, Senator J.D. Vance, who launched a series of attacks against the vice president. Reacting to a mistaken report that Harris had already commented on the visit, Vance accused her of fake outrage and stated, “She can go to hell.” He later told the Washington Post, “Don’t focus on Donald Trump showing up to grieve with people who lost their children. Focus on your own job. Don’t do this fake outrage thing.”
